A few decades ago a penniless, Russian immigrant made it big in America. How? By writing about her philosophy of individualism, freedom and limited government. She hit a chord among the people of her adopted country. Her ideas are more important today as Washington takes over our lives and is force feeding us statism and gang rule bit by bit.
...The degree of statism in a country's political system, is the degree to which it breaks up the country into rival gangs and sets men against one another. When individual rights are abrogated, there is no way to determine who is entitled to what; there is no way to determine the justice of anyone's claims, desires, or interests. The criterion, therefore, reverts to the tribal concept of: one's wishes are limited only by the power of one's gang.
...Statism-in fact and in principle-is nothing more than gang rule. A dictatorship is a gang devoted to looting the effort of the productive citizens of its own country. When a statist ruler exhausts his own country's economy, he attacks his neighbors. It is his only means of postponing internal collapse and prolonging his rule. a country that violates the rights of its own citizens, will not respect the rights of its neighbors. Those who do not recognize individual rights, will not recognize the rights of nations: a nation is only a number of individuals. ("The Roots of War" in CAPITALISM: THE UNKNOWN IDEAL by Ayn Rand (1966)
No comments:
Post a Comment